William O'Neill, the Syracuse man charged with first-degree manslaughter in the stabbing death of Bruce Elmer Saturday, was upgraded to serious condition today. Police said O'Neill stabbed Elmer during a fight outside O'Neill's apartment on West Onondaga Street just before 3 p.m.

The two men began fighting after Elmer started banging on the window of O'Neill's apartment, yelling for the woman inside to come out. Police said the woman used to live with Elmer.

The woman didn't come out of the apartment, but O'Neill did, brandishing a long kitchen knife and a cane. Police said the two began fighting, and O'Neill, 66, stabbed Elmer, 50, in the side. O'Neill fell during the fight and hit his head.

When police arrived on the scene, both men were in and out of consciousness. Elmer had emergency surgery at University Hospital, but died Saturday evening.

O'Neill was arraigned in his hospital room, but his condition worsened Sunday and he had surgery to relieve the pressure on his brain.

The two men had a history of fighting, police said, and O'Neill had a restraining order against Elmer, whose most recent address was the Oxford Inn, a shelter. The woman in O'Neill's apartment apartment also had a restraining order against Elmer, police said. Police did not release the woman's name.